


Cruel to be Kind

by jyorraku



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2018-01-12 05:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1182310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jyorraku/pseuds/jyorraku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ward didn’t bounce back like Barton did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cruel to be Kind

Melinda May wasn’t a stranger to Directory Nick Fury’s office. Since her self-imposed exile to the land of paperwork, much has changed, but Fury was a constant. His office, however impersonal, could not be mistaken for the office of another. His singular glare alone could fill the room with an aura of his semi-omnipotent presence. His focused attention was magnified sunlight, causing the average S.H.I.E.L.D agent to scurry for shelter.

Fury glowered pointedly at May behind his throne-desk, his jaw flexing with bone-tired exasperation.

May didn’t scurry, but it didn’t mean Fury wasn’t wasting his time.

“Sir, I already gave Coulson my word. If you want me off his team, talk to him,” she said blandly.

He stared at her, through her, and muttered loudly, “He sure knows how to pick them.”

May’s eyes narrowed. Fury leaned back on his chair, his large hands steepled before him.

“Don’t flatter yourself, agent. Not everything is about you or Coulson.”

She considered this without affront, her brow raised at one of the most powerful man in the world before asking dubiously, “Fitz-Simmons?”

Fury’s lips curled, a snarl of unamusement. His fingers closed into a grip.

“You know what happened to Agent Barton during New York.”

May blinked and stopped herself from recoiling. No physical space could separate her from imagining the horror.

So much for the standard issue agent.

“Ward didn’t bounce back like Barton did...”

“People don’t bounce,” May interjected irritably, informed by inchoate memories.

Fury started, his gaze not unkind. But with a weary sigh, his voice became a bellow, “His PTSD was extreme, the alternative was institutionalization. Ward accepted the memory displacement procedure, he wanted to be on the ground for what’s coming around the corner. He’s stable, he was tested against everything we could think of. Everything on Earth.”

“On Earth,” May repeated, words uttered like foreign alphabets. Her face darkened and the next words came through a tightlipped growl. “Does Coulson know about this?”

“Coulson,” Fury paused, his eye shifting, “has enough on his own plate.”

Stone faced, May intoned, “I don’t know if I can fly a plane with this much baggage.”

Fury smiled ruefully before sliding a metal case across the table.

“You can use this to stabilize Ward if he starts to regress.” With that, he rose imperiously and turned, his back forming a tall solid wall.

Fingers on the clasp, May hesitated. In her peripheral vision, Fury’s head dipped ever so slightly.

“Agent May, I hope it never gets used.”


End file.
